Bicycle-gear



2 Shets-Sheet 1.

(Nomaden E. H.. P. TAYLOR.

BIGYGLE GEAR.

Patented; July 11.1893.

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Patented July 11",]1893.

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NITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

ERNEST H. TAYLOR, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

BICYCLE-GEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of' Letters Patent No. 501,381, dated July11, 1893.v

Application led January 14, 1893.' Serial No. 458,337. (No model.)

.To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, ERNEST H. P. TAYLOR, of Waterbury, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and ImprovedBicycle-Gear, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to improvements in bicycle gears; and the object ofmy invention is to produce a differential gear which may be appliedconveniently to any ordinary safety bicycle, and dispense with theordinary sprocket and chain; which may be made very light and strong,and which may be quickly and easily adjusted so as to change the gearingin a way to drive the bicycle fast or slow as desired.

To this end my invention consists in certain features of construct-ionand combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.Y

Reference is tobe had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken side elevation of the gearing showing itsapplication to the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the gear mechanism,showing a portion of the frame. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detaillongitudinal section of the shifting mechanism for changing the speed.Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detailend view of a shifting rack. Fig. 6 is an end view of one of the loosegears arranged on the driving shaft. Fig. 7 is a plan View of the hangerand rack'support which are secured to the lower front portion of themain frame. Fig. S is a detail sectional plan illustrating the manner inwhich the rear end of the driving shaft connects with the hub of therear bicyole wheel; and Fig. 9 is an end view of the supporting clampfor the rear end of the driving shaft. l

The machine frame 10 is the ordinary diamond frame which connects thefront and rear wheel of the bicycle, and which, at its lower extremityat a point midway between the two wheels, is formed into a journal l1for the crank shaft 12, the latter being driven by the usual pedalcranks 13. Extending rearward from the journal 11 are the lower sidepieces 14 of the frame which, in this case, are preferably flattenedattheir rearends, as shown at 15, and these rear ends are fastened tothe spindles 16 which are rigid with and project from the rear hub 17 inthe usual manner. On the end of the hub 17 is a bevel gear wheel 18meshing with a pinion 19 on the driving shaft 20 which shaft extendshorizontally forward above the crank shaft 12 to which it is connectedby a differential gearing to be hereinafter described. The rear end ofthe shaft 20 is supported in a ball bearing 21?, formed in a bearingblock or clamp block 22 which is split on the under side, as shown at23, and its opposite parts adj usted with reference to each other by abolt 24. On the outer side of the bearing block 22 are lugs 25 and 26which are adapted to clamp the attened portion 15 of one of the arms 14,and to enable this to be done, the lug 26 is formed on a detachableplate 27 which is secured to the upper p ortion of the block by a boltor set screw 28. The front end of the shaft 20 is hollow, as shown at 29in Fig. 3, and its forward extremity 30 is reduced and journaled in aball bearing 31, as shown in the same figure. This bearingis supportedin a split hanger 32, the partsof which are held together and adjustedby a bolt 33, see Fig. 4, and this hanger is formed on a plate 34 whichis fastened by bolts 35 to an extension 36 which projects forward fromthejournal 11, as best shown in Fig. 2. The plate 34 is provided on itsinner side with a lip 37 which fits a corresponding recess in the ex`tension 36 and this strengthens the joint.

Secured to the top of the plate 34 is a second actuated by a pinion 43on the lower end ofa shaft 44 which is stepped in a socket 44a in thetop of the hanger 32 and which extends upward on the side of the frame10 to a point where it may be easily reached from the saddle of themachine. Its upper portion is supported in a keeper 45 and it terminatesin a handle or wheel 46 by which it may be revolved. It will be seenthat the turning of the shaft 44 will cause the rack 40 to be movedforward or backward. The front end of the rack 40 is bent at an angle,as shown clearly at 47 in Fig. 3, and this bent end is perforated, as at48, and held on the head of a screw 49 which screws into the end of arod 50, and the latter is held to slide longitudinally in the bore 29 ofthe driving shaf l 20. On the inner end of this rod 50 is a latch 51which is pivoted on the rod and is firmly pressed outward by a spring5FL which is secured to the rod and the latch. VThe latch slides in aslot 52 in the end of the shaft 2O and is provided on its outer sidewith a boss 53 having its end edges oppositely inclined, and this bossis adapted to enter recesses 54 in the gear wheels 55 which arejournaled loosely on the shaft 2O and are held in place between collars57 on the shaft. The gear wheels are provided at one end with a faceplate 56 which prevents the latch from being accidentally shifted so asto cause two wheels to turn at the same time, but when the rod 50 isinten` tionally moved, the inclined edges of the boss 53 will slide overthe face plates, the spring 5l yielding sufficiently to permit the abovemovement to be accomplished. It will be seen that when the gear wheel55, which is in engagement with the latch 5l, is revolved, the shaft 20will also revolve and the movement will be transmitted to the rearbicycle wheel through the gearing on lthe rear end of the shaft 20. Itwill be noticed that the series of gears 55 form practically a conegear, although the gears are independent of each other. These gears meshwith a cone gear 5S on a short shaft 59 which is arranged parallel withthe shaft 2O and is supported in ball bearings 60 and 6l arrangedrespectively in the hanger 32 and the flattened portion of the frame l0.The largest portion of the conc gear 5S meshes with the smallest of thegears 55, and the smallest portion of the cone gear meshes with thelargest of the gears 55, the intermediate portions of the cone meshingwith the intermediate gears, and consequently any desired speed withinthe limits of the gearing may be maintained, as hereinafter described.It will be seen that when the largest portion of the cone gear mesheswith the smallest of the gears 55, the latter gear and the shaft 20, ifconnected with said gear, will be rapidly revolved, but withcomparatively little power, while if the largest of the gears 55 isconnected with the shaft and driven by the cone gear,a low speed andgreat power will result. On the rear end of the cone gear is formed abevel pinion G2 which meshes with a pinion 63 on the pedal shaft l2, andconsequently the movement of the pedal shaft is transmitted through thecone gear to the gears 55 from one of' these to the driving shaft 2O andfrom the latter to the rear bicycle wheel.

The machine is operated in the usual way, except for shifting the speedof the gearing,

and to do this the shaft 44 is turned so as to slide the rack 40 andbring the latch 51 into engagement with the desired gear 55. In this waythe speed of the machine may be very nicely regulated to suit thestrength and weight of the rider and the character of the country overwhich he is riding.

From the foregoing description, it will be readily seen that theattachments described may be easily applied to any ordinary bicycleframe with very slight modifications of the latter.

Having thus described my invention, l claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a bicycle the combination with the treadleshaft having a gear wheel and a longitudinally extending drive shaft 20geared at its rear end to the rear Wheel extending at its forwardtubular slotted end across thc treadle shaft and provided with a seriesof loose gears 55, having recesses 54, of a longitudinally sliding bar50 extending into said tubular slotted end and carrying a latch 5lhaving a nose 53 extending through said slot to lock any one of theloose gears to their shaft, a rack parallel with the shaft 2O and havinga lateral extension at its forward end secured loosely to the forwardend of the sliding rod to permit said rod to rotate while the rackremains stationary, a hand operated shaft geared at its lower end to therack and the cone gear 58 meshing with the loose gears and provided atits inner end with a gear G2 meshing into the treadle shaft gear,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the drive shaft having a tubular slotted endand a series of loose gears and the cone gear meshing into the saidgears and geared to its operating shaft, of a rod sliding in the tubularshaft, a latch 5l pivoted to the inner end of the shaft and having anose 53 extending through said slot to lock any one of the loose gearsto its shaft, a longitudinally extending spring 51 secured at its outerend to the sliding rod and at its inner end secured to the heel of thelatch below its pivot to throw the said nose out' through the slot and arack and pinion for sliding the rod, the said rack being parallel withand loosely connected to the said rod whereby the rod will be free torotate while the rack remains stationary substantially as set forth.

3. In a bicycle,the combination with the rear wheel gear 18, the bearingblock 22 clipped to the frame adjacent to ,said gear, the forwardbearing block 32 secured to the framein front of the treadle shaft, thelongitudinally extending shaft 20 journaled in said blocks 22, 32 gearedat its rear end to the gear 18 and having a tubular slotted forward end,a series of loose gears on said slotted end, acone gear meshing withsaid loose gears and the shaft of which is journaled at its forward endin the block 32 and at its rear end in a bearing adjacent to the treadleshaft the gear 62 mesh- IOO IIO

ing with the treadle shaft gear, the extension lock any one of the loosegears thereto, and 3S secured to the plate 34 of block or hanger 32 theshaft 44' geared at its lower end to the Io and having an upturnedflange 39, a slotted rack, substantially as set forth.

rack bolted to and sliding on said flange, a

5 sliding rod 50 parallel with the rod and se- ERNEST* H' P TAYLOR'cured to its outer end, a latch 51 pivoted to Vitnesses: the inner endof the rod and havnganose 53 JOHN B. RIGGS,

projecting through the slot in the shaft 2O to ALONZO E. BINGHAM.

